After far too long a hiatus, THE VAMPIRE DIARIES makes its much-anticipated return tomorrow night at 8PM on the CW (7PM on CTV in Canada). And in celebration of said fact, we took the opportunity at the recent Television Critics Association Press Tour to corner showrunners Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec in order to ask them the following questions five.

What can you tease about tomorrow night’s return of THE VAMPIRE DIARIES?Julie Plec: Well, we pick up right where we left off when Elena’s life is both literally and figuratively still very much hanging in the balance. The big surprise is that just as we’re about to reveal who this man in the road she hit was, Elena gets rescued by Damon and they set off on an adventure together. Now, not having her necklace on, Damon could very easily have forced her to go, but she says yes on her own and they take a road trip to Georgia in pursuit of more answers on how to open Katherine’s tomb. It’s a fun episode because we haven’t yet seen Elena and Damon have a storyline together all and they’re together the entire episode, which is kind of awesome.

What effect will Elena and Damon’s excellent adventure have on Elena and Stefan?Julie Plec: When Elena and Damon return from their road trip there’s going to be that question: Now that Damon and Elena have bonded does she trust him [Damon] in a way that she shouldn’t and that’s not safe for anybody. Also, where does Elena fit into Damon’s nefarious plan and is she going to help him out? Just who’s on whose side?

Being a Toronto native, it’s always great to see Canadian talent succeed down South. Just how lucky are you to have landed Nina Dobrev?Kevin Williamson: You know, it’s so hard finding an actress to center a show around, particularly a CW show. And that was our biggest worry. Julie [Plec] and I were both were like, “Who’s going to anchor the show?” Because it really all comes down to that girl. And we so lucked out with Nina. Aside from being enormously gifted, what’s so great about her is that I don’t think she knows how talented she is. I predict Oscars for her.

Thus far you’ve done an excellent job of keeping the secrets of Mystic Falls contained within a small circle of people. Just how long do you think this town can live in ignorant bliss?Julie Plec: That’s a really good question and one that we don’t know the answer to yet. Honestly though, as long as we can have it, because the minute the show becomes about everybody knowing everything the story ceases to become as small and personal as you want it and just turns into a big fight to the finish. Certainly by the end of the season there will be more people, ‘In the know.’ Yet we’re going to try and keep the majority of the town in the dark for as long as we can. That is, without them all starting to look like morons! Really, it’s touch and go!

As a fan of KYLE XY, I can’t help but feel as though there were a lot of young and genetically-blessed actors who would fit right into Mystic Falls! Any chance we might see one or two of them pop up on THE VAMPIRE DIARIES?Julie Plec: Those guys are my family so anytime there is an opportunity to give them something cool to do, as long as Kevin [Williamson] is on board, there will always be a place in Mystic Falls for them.

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Have grown up in a tourist town, I kind of think of Mystic Falls as tourist town. It has those major waterfalls (unique in Virginia) and the battlefield from a major Civil War battle.

The thing about tourist towns is that the citizens would want to cover up deaths and not make a big deal about moutain lion attacks since it would scare away tourists. Plus tourist town have a lot of strangers coming in and out which means you’ve got victims that people in the town that nobody there would miss plus nobody would notice if a vampire showed up since it’s just another new face. Plus tourist explains why the town has people living it and why it’s so cutesy with courthouse square filled with mom’n’pop shops.

Great mini interview and I’d love to see more Kyle XY alumni in Mystic Falls. It was great seeing Marguerite MacIntyre on the show.

Susan P.

Hahaha…Let me just say from one self-confessed television addict to another, I think I love you. No seriously, when I get in to work each morning I have a list of sites I normally check for gossip etc. But I ALWAYS check this site before any other. Oh and I adore when you do the calendars of the month for new shows. I print one out and work the DVR’s from that 🙂 Sad huh?